Last First Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

juice and milk in his tray. “We’ll need a carafe of coffee at our table,” she told the cashier. She passed the woman her debit card.
    Jackson grabbed Carrie’s card and dropped it in her purse, then handed him his card instead.
    “Pushy,” she told him.
    “That’s funny, coming from you,” he snorted.
    They emptied their trays onto their table while someone brought the coffee. Carrie poured two cups and pushed one toward Jackson. “Sooo—,” she drawled, “—why are you buying furniture today instead of making funeral arrangements for your wife?”
    He coughed on his sip of juice. “Jesus, you don’t beat around the bush, do you, Carrie?”
    She pulled back the lid on a container of creamer. “Answer the question.”
    He paused several moments after taking another sip of juice then cleared his throat. “Chloe left a letter with our lawyer. She said she didn’t want any kind of funeral service, and she wanted to be cremated.”
    “Oh.” She looked over at him with narrowed eyes. “Please tell me you’re not going to keep her in an urn on your mantle. That’s so damn creepy.”
    “I don’t have a mantle. I thought I’d keep her at the office where you could visit with her every day,” he said dryly.
    She dropped her fork, and glared at him. “Even though there was no love lost between she and I, that is not funny.”
    He grinned tightly at her. “She wanted them sent to her mother in California.”
    Carrie’s mouth dropped in shock. “You’ve got to be kidding me! To her mother, who was sorry for your loss but wouldn’t bother coming to the funeral?”
    Jackson shrugged. “She did me a favor.” He felt his friend’s gaze on him.
    “Come on, Jack. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re holding back from me. This is not about funeral arrangements, is it? What’s going on, here?”
    He placed his fork on the tray and wiped his mouth with a napkin. He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the table, and looked over at her. “No, it’s not about funeral arrangements.”
    “What else did she say in that letter?”
    “She said that she had been on the pill the entire time we’d been together. She never wanted a child...anyone’s child.”
    “But, the depression when she got her period every month,” Carrie reminded him.
    He pushed back in his chair. “You remember that quack doctor that tried to tell me she was putting on an act?” he asked, as Carrie nodded. “It seems I owe him an apology.”
    “Are you sure about this?”
    “I’m sure.”
    “You must be...I...don’t know what to say,” she stammered. “I can’t even imagine how you must feel. I’m so sorry.” She wiped at a tear in the corner of her eye.
    “Don’t cry over her, Carrie, she’s not worth it.”
    “She’s not, but you are. All the years you wasted on that spiteful, conniving...” She swore then released s deep sigh. “I shouldn’t say that, you probably loved her in your own way.”
    “Not for a long time.”
    She stared at him for a minute in silence. “Did she say anything else?”
    “Nothing that should ever be repeated,” he said, his mouth set in a grim line.
    Carrie shook her head in disgust. “I’d give my right arm to go one round with that skinny tramp.”
    He gave her a sad smile. “Aw, thanks hon. It really means a lot that you’d be willing to whip her ass for me.”
    “It’s not fair, Jack. You’re a good man, and one day, you’ll make a wonderful father.”
    He shook salt on his eggs. “Aren’t you skipping a step?”
    Carrie supported her chin on her clasped hands. “I think God has something special planned for you. I really do.”
    He dropped his fork in his plate and rested his elbows on the table to gaze at her. “I sure as hell hope you’re right, Carr. It’d be nice to actually look forward to going home at the end of the day.”
    She nodded in understanding. “It happened for me after eighteen years. It’ll happen for you, too.”
    He straightened